


The Mirror

by epersonae



Series: The Time Between [3]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Drug Use, Gen, celebrity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-03 21:25:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11540727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epersonae/pseuds/epersonae
Summary: Fame is a double-edged sword, and being loved doesn't mean a whole lot when you have an emptiness in your heart that you don't even understand.





	The Mirror

**Author's Note:**

> I 100% blame anonymousalchemist for this one, although the story prompt technically came from mystery-moose.

Lucretia could hear them all the way from her spot in the middle of the audience. Taako’s voice had always carried; the other voice was lower but she could hear the tone of contempt clear as day.

“My man, Sazed, _darling_ , if I’ve told you _once_ I’ve told you _literally_ seven- _hundred_ times --”

“No, I know, I know --”

“No, I don’t think you _do_. Everything needs to be in the right fucking order for Taako. We’ve got a _show_ to put on.”

“Yeah I gotcha. Why you gotta be such a bitch, I don’t even know. Take five and I’ll get you set.”

* * *

The mirror lay on the counter, its flat shimmering surface reflecting Taako’s face. For a second, he looked down into it, at his own face, and that weird shivering staticky feeling filled his head. If you’d asked him, and if he was ready to be honest, it felt like looking at someone else. Or maybe looking _for_ someone else.

On the other side of the wagon wall, the crowd was murmuring. Right behind him, Sazed’s voice.

“You gonna snort that or just stare at it?”

And then Taako focused on the line of powder spread out over the mirrored surface. He flipped his hair back over his shoulder, leaned down, and with an unnervingly practiced move, used a tiny silver straw to inhale the whole thing.

He flung his head back. Yup, that worked. Chase out the nerves (he always called it nerves, that static hum) and get properly ready for his show.

“Open the panel, m'man,” he said to Sazed with a flourish of his hand. “Sizzle It Up With Taako is one-hundo percent ready.” 

* * *

 The window opened onto the crowd: a big one, Bottlenose Cove show with people stacked up to watch the transmutation cooking wizard. He was a hit, which was what she had hoped for most, all these faces turned towards him in rapt attention. The applause echoed off of the buildings around the square. It wasn’t the first time she’d been to see the show, but it was the first time in a while, and the largest crowd she’d seen.

She leaned forward, eager to see him again, even at a distance: Taako, her friend, fast, funny, sharp as hell Taako.

“Let’s kick this off, bubelehs,” he said, and

_He’s a mess._

_This isn’t right._

_Fuck._

His eyes were glazed, his nostrils flared angrily even as his words are Too Much Fun, and Aren’t We Having a Good Time? It was stupid, really, watching him turn sugar into salt to sprinkle on the chicken. Time was he would have complained about wasting good ingredients; you never know when a universe won’t have enough sweeteners.

He flourished a bottle of Worchester sauce and poured it into his bare hand. Showing off, but not even very well; she could see his hand trembling holding the measuring spoon as he poured the liquid from his other hand.

And yet, people were applauding.

* * *

“You got those samples ready?”

Sazed rolled his eyes.

“When do I not?”

Taako tsked at him and then sniffed loudly.

“Hey I just gotta be sure, m’man. You dig?” He looked at the tray as Sazed picked it up from the counter. “Nope. Not quite right.” He rearranged the little cups of roast chicken and carrots, snagged another sprig of rosemary, reset the garnish. To hell with the audience waiting, they’ll get their fucking free food in a second, just gotta make sure everything is arranged just right. Then he snapped his fingers at Sazed and the two of them walked out into the crowd.

This was both the best part and the worst part: being mobbed by fans. Boy howdy do they love what he’s cooking. They eat it up, literally walk up to him and take the food and tell him how fucking good it is, and he eats up the attention. Tell me more, tell me it’s _good_. _I’m the star here_. But also, all those eyes on him made him squirm, made him wonder what he was even doing there. Can’t think too much about that, though. Best to just make sure Sazed is handing out the samples like he’s supposed to.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a woman who wasn’t making a beeline for the samples. She was just -- she was staring at him; she didn’t blink, she didn’t move. It was fucking creepy, is what it was, and it gave him _nerves_ , the fuzzy nauseous feeling. He just wanted her to stop staring, because he can’t look away from her. _Paint a picture, lady, it’ll last longer._

He blinked before she did, and when he looked again she was gone.

“I’m gonna need a big fuckin’ drink, m’dude, when this one is over,” he said to Sazed.

* * *

In a nondescript inn on the road from the coast, Lucretia sat curled up on a narrow bed. In front of her lay a pair of journals. The last time she saw the show, she wrote down everything she’d seen. She wrote that he was happy. She thought that he was happy. This time she couldn’t write anything. She wouldn’t write anything, and she wouldn’t come back again.

**Author's Note:**

> Updated Oct 30, 2017 to move the show from Neverwinter to Bottlenose Cove in order to make [Some people always cry at weddings](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11562366) canon-compliant.


End file.
